[MORNING CALM TALES] Carving jack-o'-lanterns at an English academy and the 'Great Pumpkin Showdown' of 1991

October 1991 presented an unusual scene outside the classroom of ELS, a private English language institute in Seoul. A cleaning woman, standing at the classroom door, stared into the trash can. After a brief moment of silence, she looked at the students and the teacher before speaking rapidly in Korean. Although she didn't mention cleaning, her tone and rapid speech sent chills down the teacher's spine. The woman's agitation was centered around a pumpkin, or more specifically, the contents once inside it.

At the time, the teacher was nearing the end of his first year of teaching English in Korea. Halloween was still a novelty for most students, who had never heard of trick-or-treating, carving jack-o'-lanterns, or dressing up as witches, ghosts, and monsters. These traditions offered English teachers a unique opportunity to introduce a taste of Western culture in the classroom, providing a welcome break from grammar drills and pronunciation exercises.

As Halloween approached, the teacher decided to engage his students in a creative activity. He initiated a pumpkin-carving contest among the students, with the Great Pumpkin Showdown of 1991 becoming the highlight of the celebration. The competition sparked excitement and curiosity among the students, who eagerly took part in crafting their own jack-o'-lanterns, embracing the spirit of Halloween and providing an engaging learning experience.